Honoring a Pioneer Woman Asian Historian in the Twin Cities

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Middle Ground Journal

Honoring a Pioneer Woman Asian Historian in the Twin Cities
By: Dr. Maythee Jensen Kantar

Editor’s Note: Dr. Irene Khin Khin Jensen is being honored at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) on October 19, 2018, at Metropolitan State University. She is being awarded the Jackson and Caroline Bailey Public Service Award for 2018 from the MCAA for her work. This short memoir highlights her work and was written by her daughter, Dr. Maythee Jensen Kantar, a professor at Metropolitan State University, with indispensable assistance from Dr. Sumiko Otsubo Sitcawich. Drs. Jeanne Grant and Anne Aronson assisted with the editing and layout.

Born in Burma (Myanmar) in 1925, Irene Khin Khin Myint was fortunate that her parents encouraged her academic studies; her father often said that “no one can steal your education from you.” All her brothers and sisters were sent to English speaking schools. Khin Khin attended the prestigious Methodist English Girls High School in Rangoon, which had a challenging and enriching curriculum and extra curricula activities such as elocution and athletics that prepared the multicultural students from different religious backgrounds for the national university exams and leadership.

For Full Article: JensenMArticlesSpring2018themiddlegroundjournal.org

Edited by Jeanne E. Grant